Lupus Patients at Risk for Stroke

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are more likely to experience ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke than the general population especially in the first year they are diagnosed, according to new research published in Annals of the RheumaticDiseases.

Lupus patients in Sweden had twice as many ischemic strokes (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.7-2.8) and an increased incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage (HR 1.4 95% CI 0.7-2.8), reported Elizabeth Arkema, ScD, an epidemiologist with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and her colleagues. Women and people under 50 years old had the highest hazard ratios, and the highest relative risk for ischemic stroke was within the first year after SLE diagnosis (HR 3.7, 95% CI 2.1-6.5).